Today’s dental case was a 4 year old male neutered Burmese cat. He is a very sweet patient that I saw recently for his wellness and booster vaccines. The biggest abnormality that I saw was some crowding of the teeth and gingivitis, with mild dental calculus. I can’t say he was very compliant for his oral examination, but I discussed with the owner about the crowded teeth and had recommended a dental, thinking it was his breed and smooshy face.
Today, we anesthetized, and the veterinary technician took dental x-rays. When it came time to chart his teeth after the x-rays were taken, I realized that the teeth were not poorly erupted adult teeth with retained deciduous teeth, but supernumerary teeth. My assistant who was writing my chart for me said, ummm... I’m not sure how to spell that.
Right... then comes the decision of what to do with all the extra teeth! My patient had supernumerary bilateral last premolars on the mandibular arcades, similar to this photo.
Fortunately, we did catch it early, prior to there being severe periodontal disease. The molar wasn’t smooth either, which was suspicious for a cervical resorptive lesion in the enamel of the tooth. After discussing the x-rays and chart with the owner, we agreed to remove the rotated premolar and the molar with the neck lesion, but leave the other side how it was. There was also a supernumerary 109? I actually could not really make out what tooth it was, but it was an extra tooth. It didn’t seem to be rotated or causing any trouble, so it got to stay.
The extractions went fairly smooth, though my drill was not having the best of days, so two cross burrs broke. But no roots were broken, and the patient had a smooth recovery. I’d say that’s a good dental!
I thought I would share the DVM360 post on supernumerary teeth, just in case you come across it too!